Massachusetts vacation home sales surge

Consumer confidence is returning to the Massachusetts vacation home market, as agents report a surge of sales.

From Cape Cod to the Berkshires and along the Bay State’s southwest coast, sales of second homes have jumped by at least 25 percent over last year in the Bay State’s vacation hot spots. And those markets just keep getting hotter.

“We’re as busy as I can remember us being in a while — probably going back to 2007,” said Aleta Azarian, a branch executive for Kinlin Grover Real Estate in Chatham, where sales of vacation homes and condos on Cape Cod increased by more than 30 percent for the first half of 2012 compared to a year ago.

The story is similar in south Berkshire County where from mid-June to mid-August, 87 vacation properties have exchanged hands with 108 more under agreement. During the same period a year ago, 58 second homes sold.

“We’re seeing a real strong increase,” said Anne Meczywor, a broker associate with Roberts & Associates Realty in Lenox, where sales of vacation and investment homes in south Berkshire County have nearly doubled this summer, according to data collected by agents.